It’s possible you haven’t heard of Byron Bitz. It’s also possible you just haven’t heard from Byron Bitz in a while too. Bitz became a bit known when he played with the Boston Bruins two seasons ago as a tough, fourth line forward.

Back in March 2010 he was traded from Boston to Florida in the deal that helped the Bruins land defenseman Dennis Seidenberg. Seidenberg went on to pair up with Zdeno Chara this past season as part of the Bruins’ top defensive unit and win the Stanley Cup.

With all that in mind, now picture how funny fate is when you see that the Vancouver Canucks signed Bitz to a one-year, two-way deal to compete for a spot on the fourth line in Vancouver and, failing that, seeing a lot of ice time in AHL Chicago. Bitz missed all of last season after having sports hernia surgery and running into complications after the fact because of it.

Two seasons ago with the Bruins and Panthers, Bitz scored five goals and had six assists in 52 games with both teams. Bitz averaged 10-11 minutes of ice time per game so he’s not a guy that’s going to get a ton of play and serves his role as being an energy line player. If Bitz can bounce back he can give the Canucks some fire on their fourth line.

Here’s to hoping that Canucks fans can handle Bitz being the guy that in a roundabout way helped the Bruins beat Vancouver for the Stanley Cup back in June.